Hydraulic door closer

ABSTRACT

A door closer comprises a housing having a door-closing spring and a fluid-filled door checking or retarding chamber in which a vane rotates in response to opening and closing of the door. The vane permits fluid to leak past its edges on movement in the door opening direction but forces fluid ahead of it and through a novel bypass passage on movement in the closing direction. The adjustable bypass passage comprises an adjustably positioned flexible seal which bears on the vane-supporting shaft, the degree of pressure therebetween regulating the rate of fluid flow through the passage defined by said seal and shaft.

11mm States Meat MacDonald REST AVAILABLE H 1451 Aug. 1, 1972 [54] HYDRAULIC DOOR CLOSER 3,033,235 5/1962 Thaning ..251/331 2 869 910 l/1959 Fisher et al. ..292/256.67 D. d [72] Invent 32K Macmmfld Gran Blane 1,734,236 11/1929 Smith et al ..292/256.67

[73] Assignee: Wright Products, St. Paul, Minn. primary E i j '11 g n 22 Filed; No 23 7 Assistant Examiner-Peter A. Aschenbrenner 2 A l N 91 9 8 Attorney-Cullen, Settle, Sloman & Cantor [57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. ..l6/58, 188/310, 16/51 A door closer comprises a housing having a door clos [51] 11111112. Cl. E051 3/14 ing Spring and a fl u door checking or retarding [58] Field of Search ..l6/58, 51; 188/310, 307; chamber in which a vane rotates in response to open 251/331 296; 292/256'67 ing and closing of the door. The vane permits fluid to leak past its edges on movement in the door opening [56] References Cited direction but forces fluid ahead of it and through a UNITED STATES PATENTS novel bypass passage on movement in the elosing dlrectton. The ad ustable bypass passage compr1ses an 1,273,329 7/1918 Carter ..l6/58 adjustahly positioned fl ibl seal which bears on the 617,479 1/1899 Dam1tz ..l6/58 vane supporting Shaft, the degree. f pressure 3,405,907 10/1968 Kayser ..251/331 X therebetween regulatmg the rate of fluld flow through 3,23%,23; 3121f?! the passage defined by Said seal and Shaft u rreux 1,123,844 1/l9l5 Caldwell ..251/331 1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures SHEEI 1 OF 2 INVENTOR.

ROBERT D. MACDONALD.

CLLLEN, SETTLE, SLOMAN 8 CANTOR ATT'YS.

PATENTEDAUB 1 1972 3,680.1 71

sum 2 0F 2 INVENTOR.

ROBERT D. MAC WALD.

ATT' YS.

46 CULLEN, SETTLE, SLOMAN 8' CANTGQ.

AVAILABLE coPY HYDRAULIC DOOR CLOSER BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Rotary type door closers typically comprise a spring which stores energy during door opening and releases such energy to close the door when the door is released. To slow down the closing of the door, a door check means is conventionally provided. This invention relates to an improved door check means.

In the past, it was generally only the more elaborate and expensive door closers which had a door check means which was bypassed during door opening to permit quick and effort-free opening. Such closers were therefore largely limited to commercial or industrial installations because of their cost.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a low cost, sturdy and reliable door closer having a check means which permits unrestricted opening. of the door.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional elevation of the improved door closer of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional plan view in the direction of arrows 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional plan view in the direction of arrows 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of the bypass valve adjusting mechanism, showing the bypass passage in its fully open position, and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing the bypass valve in its fully restricted position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular, the improved door closer of this invention is contained within a housing in which a vertically arranged shaft 12 is rotatably mounted. An arm 14 is fixed to the upper outer end of shaft 12 for rotation therewith, and is connected by appropriate structure (not illustrated) such as a link and bracket to either the door or door jamb, depending upon where door closer housing 10 is mounted. Hence, movement of the door between its open and closed position causes rotation of arm 14 and shaft 12.

Housing 10 has an upper chamber 16 which contains a spirally wound torsional spring 18 fixed at its inner end to shaft 12 and fixed at its outer end to housing 10. These connections are conventional, and are therefore not illustrated. As is well known to those skilled in this art, spring 18 biases the associated door to its closed position through the interconnecting shaft 12, arm 14 and other structure. As the door is moved toward its open position, energy is stored in spring 18, which is :Ihen available to close the door upon release of the oor.

As is conventional, the improved door closer of this invention is provided with means for checking or retarding the closing of the door under the impetus of spring 18, so that the door will not slam closed. This door check system is located in fluid-filled lower chamber 20 of housing 10, and comprises a vane assembly 22 which is fixed for rotation with shaft 12. Lower chamber 20 is defined by semi-cylindrical inner wall 23, upper wall 24, lower wall 25 and rubber seal 26 which is backed up and retained in housing 10 by cover plate 28. The fluid may be a silicone oil, selected for relatively constant viscosity over a wide temperature range.

Vane assembly 22 comprises an L-shaped bracket 30 secured to shaft 12 by screws 32, and a square rubber" sealing vane 34 which is fastened to bracket 30 by clamping plate 36 and rivets 38. The outer periphery of sealing vane 34 is contoured to form a flexible flap which yieldably bears against the inner walls of chamber 20 to provide a sea], as will be described below.

A floating slide plate 42 is mounted in slot 44 of cover plate 28, and is adapted to be shiftable radially toward and away from shaft 12 by adjusting screw 46 threadably mounted in bore 48 ofv cover plate 28. For this purpose, adjusting screw 46 has a tapered tip 50 which engages the edges of slot 52in slide 42. This ink teraction of adjusting screw 46 and slide 42 adjusts the position of the center portion of rubber seal 26 (see FIGS. 2, 4 and 5) to control the size of a fluid bypass OPERATION When the door is moved toward its open position, shaft 12 and vane assembly 22 rotate in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2. The geometry of peripheral flap 40 of rubber vane34 permits fluid in lower chamber 20 to freely slip past the vane. Thus, the only substantial resistance to opening of the door is that created by the flexing of torsional spring 18.

When the door is released, the flexed spring 18 returns its energy to the door, causing the door to move toward its closed position. Movement of the door in the closing direction rotates shaft 12 and vane assembly 22 in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2. Under this condition, the geometry of rubber vane 34 creates a sealing action between peripheral flap 40 and the confines of lower chamber 20. This occurs because friction between flap 40 and the chamber walls tends to pivot such flap further outwardly against such walls, compressing the flap and forming a fluid tight seal. The side of chamber 20 ahead of the clockwise-moving vane assembly 22 becomes pressurized, since the fluid is incompressible and cannot escape past flap 40. Further clockwise movement of the-vane assembly would be impossible but for the provision of novel restricted bypass passage 54 which permits the fluid to leak at a controlled rate to the low pressure side of chamber 20 behind vane assembly 22.

The operation of bypass passage 54 is best illustrated in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5. It will be understood from a comparison of FIGS. 4 and 5 that the size of bypass passage 54 is determined by the position of adjusting screw 46 3' and floating slide 42. In the position of FIG. 4, there is of fluid which can leak through passage 54. If more rapid closing of the door is desired, screw 46 is backed outwardly to permit the resiliency of seal 46 to force slide 42 back toward the left, thereby opening passage 54 to a greater quantity of fluid flow.

Lower annular relief channel 56 and vertical relief channel 60 serve to prevent fluid pressurized by closing of the door from accumulating beneath shaft 12 and creating a hydraulic lifting force on the shaft. As will be seen from FIGS. 1 and 3, fluid seeping under shaft 12 flows around annular channel 56 and then upwards through vertical channel 60 to be discharged on the low pressure side of vane assembly 22.

Similarly, to relieve excess fluid pressure on O-ring 62 which seals upper chamber 16 from lower chamber 20, an upper annular relief channel 64 is provided immediately below O-ring 62. Channel 64, in conjunction with a connecting and downwardly extending vertical relief channel similar to channel 60 (but not illustrated) permits fluid leaking upwardly along shaft 12 to flow around channel 64 and back down the associated vertical channel to the low pressure side of vane assembly 22.

While the novel check means is described above with reference to its special value as part of a door closer, it is apparent that it could also be useful in other environments, wherever a check means may be needed.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following claims. Accordingly, the above specification is to be interpreted as illustrativeof only a single operative embodiment of this invention, rather than in a strictly limited sense.

I now claim:

1. In a rotary type door closer including a housing having a door closing means which stores energy during opening of the door and releases such energy for closing the door when the door is released, the improved door check means for retarding the closing of the door without substantially hindering the opening of the door which comprises:

a semi-cylindrical fluid-filled chamber forming a portion of the housing;

said housing having a fixed flat wall at its diametrical plane for completely closing the semi-cylindrical wall of the chamber;

an axially and concentrically arranged shaft rotatably mounted in said chamber at the center of said diametrical plane and connected to the door for rotational movement in response to opening and closing of the door;

a vane fixed on said shaft for rotation therewith and extending radially outward therefrom to the semicylindrical wall of said chamber to providea rotatable radial partition in said chamber, said vane being constructed to provide a fluid-tight seal between said vane and said semi-cylindrical said vane rotate in the door closing direction, and said vane being further constructed to avoid such a seal and permit chamber fluid toflow past said vane during rotation of said shaft and vane in the door opening direction;

a flexible and deformable seal member of sheet form mounted inside the fixed flat wall of said chamber and having its edges fixed in tight sealing engageu ment with the longitudinal edges of the cylindrical wall of the chamber, a central bypass-passagedefining portion of said sheet seal member being positioned immediately adjacent a longitudinally directed portion of the circumference of said shaft; and a fluid bypass valve device adjustably positioned in and completely disposed the flat fixed wall and in engagement with said bypass-passage-defining portion of said seal member and adapted to be moved selectively towards and away from said shaft and thus shift said seal member portion toward or away from said shaft to establish a desired degree of sealing engagement between said seal member and said rotatable shaft;

the improvement which comprises said bypass valve device comprising a rigid slide mounted in the fixed flat wall on the opposite side of said sheet seal member from said shaft and in abutting engagement with said bypass passage-defining portion of said seal member, said slide member being 7 mounted for movement radially toward or away from said shaft and being provided with a cam-following surface;

said bypass valve device further comprising a manually adjustable screw threaded into said fixed flat wall with its axis parallel to-the plane of the fixed flat wall and normal to the axis of the shaft and having a cam surface adapted to engage said cam-following surface of said slide to selectively adjust the position of said slide and said seal member, as the screw is threaded towards or away from the slide; said screw having its screw head ex-' posed for screw driver manipulationat an edge of the flat wall. 

1. In a rotary type door closer including a housing having a door closing means which stores energy during opening of the door and releases such energy for closing the door when the door is released, the improved door check means for retarding the closing of the door without substantially hindering the opening of the door which comprises: a semi-cylindrical fluid-filled chamber forming a portion of the housing; said housing having a fixed flat wall at its diametrical plane for completely closing the semi-cylindrical wall of the chamber; an axially and concentrically arranged shaft rotatably mounted in said chamber at the center of said diametrical plane and connected to the door for rotational movement in response to opening and closing of the door; a vane fixed on said shaft for rotation therewith and extending radially outward therefrom to the semi-cylindrical wall of said chamber to provide a rotatable radial partition in said chamber, said vane being constructed to provide a fluid-tight seal between said vane and said semi-cylindrical chamber wall during door closing to force the chamber fluid ahead of said vane as said shaft and said vane rotate in the door closing direction, and said vane being further constructed to avoid such a seal and permit chamber fluid to flow past said vane during rotation of said shaft and vane in the door opening direction; a flexible and deformable seal member of sheet form mounted inside the fixed flat wall of said chamber and having its edges fixed in tight sealing engagement with the longitudinal edges of the cylindrical wall of the chamber, a central bypasspassage-defining portion of said sheet seal member being positioned immediately adjacent a longitudinally directed portion of the circumference of said shaft; and a fluid bypass valve device adjustably positioned in and completely disposed the flat fixed wall and in engagement with said bypass-passage-defining portion of said seal member and adapted to be moved selectively towards and away from said shaft and thus shift said seal member portion toward or away from said shaft to establish a desired degree of sealing engagement between said seal member and said rotatable shaft; the improvement which comprises said bypass valve device compriSing a rigid slide mounted in the fixed flat wall on the opposite side of said sheet seal member from said shaft and in abutting engagement with said bypass passage-defining portion of said seal member, said slide member being mounted for movement radially toward or away from said shaft and being provided with a cam-following surface; said bypass valve device further comprising a manually adjustable screw threaded into said fixed flat wall with its axis parallel to the plane of the fixed flat wall and normal to the axis of the shaft and having a cam surface adapted to engage said cam-following surface of said slide to selectively adjust the position of said slide and said seal member, as the screw is threaded towards or away from the slide; said screw having its screw head exposed for screw driver manipulation at an edge of the flat wall. 